The Parting Glass
by The Lilac Elf of Lothlorien
Summary: After Dumbledore's funeral service some of the remaining Hogwarts inhabitants hold their own memorial


Author's Notes: I was listening to this song on my iPod while weeding and I couldn't help thinking of Dumbledore. So I decided to do this little work as a tribute to one of the greatest fictional characters ever written.

I do not own the song. The version I was listening to was performed by a local Irish group called Blackthorn though there are other variations. (Also, it was the ending theme during the credits of the movie "Waking Ned Devine".

enjoy!

* * *

HARRY POTTER: The Parting Glass

The students had long left Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry after the funeral service of Albus Dumbledore, but a few of the teachers had opted to remain.

For Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, the thought of Hogwarts without Dumbledore was… well, it was hard to imagine. She sat in her old office, sipping a glass of Madame Rosmerta's oak-matured mead. Harry Potter had been the last person with Dumbledore the night of his death and McGonagall desperately wished the boy had confided in her Dumbledore's plans. Perhaps knowing would help to bring sense to that night's events.

As McGonagall looked around her office, she knew that this room wasn't where she belonged now but she still couldn't bring herself to go up to the Head's office.

'_Of all the money that 'ere I've spent_

_I've spent it in good company_

_And of all the harm that 'ere I've done_

_Alas it was to none but me'_

Dumbledore's death had been felt deeply by everyone and it seemed that the aged wizard's final secrets and plans would never be revealed. Refilling her glass, McGonagall left her old office and went down to the Great Hall where she found Horace Slughorn and Pomona Sprout sitting at the Gryffindor table with the House ghosts—Nearly Headless Nick, The Bloody Barron, the Grey Lady, and the Fat Friar—floating nearby looking solemn in the light from the torches and the light from the setting sun filtering in though the windows.

'_And all I've done for want of wit_

_To memory now I can't recall'_

Slughorn spotted McGonagall's glass and said, "Couldn't pull a few more of those out of your wand, could you… Headmistress?"

McGonagall was momentarily taken aback by the title, but recovered as she conjured glasses of mead for Sprout and Slughorn. Once they each had a drink, they silently toasted Dumbledore's memory.

'_So drink with me the Parting Glass_

_Good night and joy be to you all'_

As McGonagall looked at everyone gathered, she remembered an old song that had been sung at her grandfather's funeral by some of his old friends. She took an extra drink of mead for courage before she started singing softly.

"Fill to me the Parting Glass

And drink to health whatere befalls

Gently rise and softly call

Good night and joy be to you all"

Slughorn's eyes grew misty as he heard the old Irish song that spoke of loss, friendship, and a cherished life missed. In a hesitant voice, he picked up the next verse as McGonagall started softly choking back the sobs that had been contained since that morning.

"Of all the friends that 'ere I've had

They're sorry at my going away

And of all the sweethearts that 'ere I've had

They would bid me one more day to stay"

McGonagall tried to regain her composure as she remembered that special twinkle in Dumbledore's eye that he always seemed to save just for her. It wasn't until his death that McGonagall had begun to realize how deeply she cared for him. How much she had loved him…

'_But since it falls unto my lot_

_That I should I should rise _

_And you should not_

'_I gently rise and softly call_

_Good night and joy be to you all'_

In a suddenly clear voice, McGonagall sang the final chorus quickly joined by Sprout, Slughorn, the Baron, the Lady, the Friar, and Nick as they gave their final salute and goodbye to Albus Percival Wolfric Brian Dumbledore.

"Fill to me the Parting Glass

And drink to health whatere befalls

Gently rise and softly call

Good night and joy be to you all"

-----------

Hidden in an old painting of Hogwarts just outside the Great Hall, Dumbledore's blue eyes filled with tears as he heard his tribute. How blessed he was to have such loyalty… even in death.

It was that loyalty that Dumbledore knew would forever bind him to Hogwarts Even if the castle itself fell, Dumbledore knew his spirit would cling to this land and to the students, teachers, and unnamed witches and wizards who remembered him. Knowing that, Dumbledore felt truly at peace for the first time in his long, long life.

'_Fill to me the Parting Glass_

_And drink to health whatere befalls_

_Gently rise and softly call_

_Good night and joy be to you all'_

THE END


End file.
